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Armed police were entitled to shoot dead a gangster after fearing he was about to open fire, an inquest jury decided today.

The 10 man jury returned a controversial verdict of "lawful killing" after a three-month hearing into the death of Mark Duggan, which sparked the London riots two years ago.

The ruling - by a majority of eight jurors to two - sparked anger and uproar in court and wild scenes outside the Royal Courts of Justice.

Duggan’s mother, Pamela, collapsed in the courtroom when the jury verdict was announced while his brother Marlon began swearing and shouting as the jurors left the court room.

He had to be held back by lawyers and friends as he shouted obscenities at the jurors as they were hurried out.

Carole Duggan, Mark's aunt, said: "The majority of the people in this country know that Mark was executed.

"We are going to fight until we have no breath left in our body for Mark and his children. For as long as it takes God give my family strength."

As she finished she punched the air with her fist saying "no justice no peace".

Brother Shaun Hall said: "We came for justice today, we don't feel that we are leaving with justice. We don't have anything to hide. We have done nothing wrong. We will still fight for justice."

The two dissenting jurors gave an open verdict – which does not accept the police account of the incident.

There was immediate controversy over the jury’s finding that Duggan did not have a gun in his hand when he was shot.

The jury decided that the gang member had a gun in the taxi with him moments before, but threw it when the police stopped him.

The verdict was met with outrage when it was delivered in court, with one supporter screaming: "Murderers all of you - the police are all murderers."

Another said: "A black life ain't worth nothing" as he left the court room in disgust.

The angry scenes continued into the hallways of the High Court as friends and family refused to disperse.

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Shouts of "murderers" and "going around murdering people and getting away with it" rang out as court security guards tried to get the supporters under control.

Even one of the lawyers could be seen crying she watched the family's reaction to the news.

Jurors reached their verdict after six and a half days of deliberation.

Tottenham MP David Lammy said there were aspects of the verdict that were “somewhat perplexing and seemingly contradictory” and a number of serious questions remain unanswered.

He said : “Despite this verdict, the reputation of the Metropolitan Police has not emerged unscathed. The jury found that a number of key errors were made by Operation Trident and SOCA officers in the hours leading up to the shooting.

“There are fundamental and lingering issues that the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation – now re-opened – must attempt to clarify. These questions must be answered not just for the sake of the Duggan family but to diffuse the confusion, conjecture and suspicion that continue to surround the events of that August evening. “Meanwhile a small group were seen trying to kick in a door outside the courtroom.

Mr Duggan's mother Pamela was in tears as she was helped out by his girlfriend Semone Wilson.

The jury said the Met and the Serious Organised Crime Agency could have done better in intelligence regarding Duggan collecting the gun.

The decision came after a three-month hearing into the killing.

Ahead of the verdict, the coroner Judge Keith Cutler expressed his "sincere gratitude" for the attention jurors had given throughout the inquest.

He added: "We have all been impressed by the way you have performed your duty."

He also said they were excused for life from any further jury service.

He did not make any recommendations but said he would take time to consider matters that had been raised over the course of the proceedings which lasted nearly four months.

He said he didn't want to be part of a justice system that "simply closes the file" at the end of an inquest

Police were tonight on a "heightened state of readinesss" and fearing that a "trigger event" could bring violent protests on to the streets. Hundreds of officers were being held in reserve, ready to respond to disorder.

Mark Rowley, the Met's assistant commissioner, said: "We don't have any intelligence or any reason to believe people are out there planning to do that.

"Of course, though, almost regardless of the verdict... as we saw in 2011, it's possible for a trigger event to spark disorder."

Mr Duggan, a 29-year-old father of five, was hit by two bullets from a police marksman’s rifle at near point-blank range.

The shooter, who was known only as V53 to protect his identity, said he shot Mr Duggan in self-defence after seeing him reach for a pistol wrapped in a black sock.

Mr Duggan was a "high-ranking member" of the TMG (Tottenham Man Dem) gang, which the inquest was told contained "48 of Europe's most violent criminals". Mr Duggan was one of six members who were being watched during a four-day covert operation in August 2011.

Prior to retiring on Wednesday afternoon, the jury had been given three options: unlawful killing, an open verdict and lawful killing.

Mr Duggan had been attempting to flee from the Met’s CO19 armed response unit when he was shot. One bullet from the MP5 rifle hit his arm, before lodging in another CO19 officer's radio, and the other inflicted fatal chest wounds. He died despite "strenuous" police attempts to perform first aid.

Officers in three unmarked cars had performed a “hard stop” on the minicab in which he was a rear passenger at 6.15pm on Thursday August 4, 2011, near Tottenham Hale station.

The Toyota people carrier had been followed from Leyton, where Mr Duggan was believed to have collected a gun in a cardboard box from an accomplice, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster. Both men's fingerprints were later found on the box.

Officers were concerned Mr Duggan was on the way to the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham and the gun would be stored for potential later use, possibly to carry out a revenge attack after the death of his cousin.

Hutchinson-Foster was jailed at the Old Bailey in February for 11 years for supplying the gun, a reactivated pistol, less than an hour before Mr Duggan was shot.

Mr Duggan, whose profession was stated as “clothing retailer”, was described in court as a core member of the TMD.

The “hard stop” plan was jeopardised by the fact Mr Duggan knew he was being tailed, and sent a text message warning others he was being followed.

Some witnesses told the inquest that Mr Duggan had been carrying a BlackBerry phone rather than a gun in his right hand.

But two of 11 armed police, marksman V53 and a colleague who was standing beside him, W70, said they had seen the gun. V53 was the front passenger in the third (or Charlie) police car prior to challenging Mr Duggan to stop.

An unloaded gun was found over a fence on a patch of grass about 10ft-20ft away from where Mr Duggan was shot.

Mobile phone footage shot by a resident from the 9th floor of an overlooking tower block and passed to the BBC suggested discrepancies in police evidence about the search for the gun.

The man, Witness B, said Mr Duggan was shot when he had his hands in the air and appeared to be surrendering.

Professor Derrick Pounder, the pathologist who carried out a second post mortem on Mr Duggan, said it was “not very likely” he would have been able to throw a gun as far as had been claimed.

A surgeon, Professor Jonathan Clasper, said that after looking at Mr Duggan’s wounds he “couldn’t have been pointing a gun at someone when he was shot in the arm”.

Z51, the commander of the "hard stop" operation, said it was "outrageous" to suggest the gun had been planted by police.

Det Ch Insp Mick Foote told the inquest that TMD was involved in gun crime and dealing class A drugs. Ten shootings and two murders were linked to the gang.

Police intelligence received in January 2011 suggested that Mr Duggan shot “someone in a nightclub” and a month later had “fired shots in [night]club car park”. However officers had “no specific intelligence” to justify his arrest prior to his shooting.

A police intelligence form said Mr Duggan “was violent” and had “aggressively confronted” officers on Broadwater Farm. He had convictions for cannabis possession, handling stolen goods and had been cautioned for public disorder, the inquest was told.

Two months before his death, reports suggested he was storing drugs at his home and was intent on getting hold of a gun, Mr Foote told the court. A police report said he was a "long-standing senior member" of TMD.

The operation, codenamed Dibri, that led to the shooting had been conducted by officers from Operation Trident, the Met’s unit that targets gun crime in the black community.

Today the Independent Police Complaints Commission said its investigation into the case was "open and ongoing".

It has yet to pass a file to the Crown Prosecution Service and was asked by the coroner to hold back the publication of its report until the inquest had concluded. The IPCC previously said it had found no evidence of criminality by any of the armed officers.

A total of 93 witnesses gave evidence to the inquest and 23 statements were read. Judge Cutler repeatedly stated his wish for as much evidence as possible - including several unproven conspiracy theories - to be put before the jury.

In his summing-up, Judge Cutler told the jury it could consider three possible conclusions, including unlawful killing, if it was “sure” Mr Duggan didn’t have a gun in his hand.

However if it was only “more likely than not” that Mr Duggan either did have or did not have the gun in his hand, then it could only consider lawful killing or an open conclusion.

The court was cleared of press and public when members of the CO19 squad gave evidence, with only their voices broadcast to an adjacent room. All armed officers were known by code names to preserve their anonymity.